Shadowhunters AU: Goosebumps
by NicoleSavage21
Summary: Upset about moving from the big city to a small town, young Clary Fray is surprised to learn that her handsome neighbor, Jace's mysterious brother, Alec is the famous author of the best-selling "Goosebumps" series. When Clary accidentally unleashes the monsters from the fantastic tales, it's up to them to return the beasts back to the books where they belong.
1. Chapter 1

Clary looks at the window of her passenger seat at the small town of Madison, Delaware. Moving to a new house and school was every teenager's nightmare. She did want this, but she and her mother, Jocelyn had no choice.

"Wow. " The redhead mumbles and turns to her mother. "Mom, are you positive there weren't any other places looking for vice principals?"

"Like where?" Her mother asked.

She shrugs her shoulders. "Guantanamo Bay?"

"Ooh, too hot." Jocelyn answers.

"North Korea?" Now I just sound dumb, Clary thought.

Her mother purses her lips. "No. They didn't call me back."

"Detroit?" She continues to keep guessing. Clary never wanted to move in the first place. In New York, she had school, friends, and everything. Madison, Delaware had nothing.

Jocelyn tries to cheer her daughter up. "Clary, this place isn't so bad. You're gonna love the house. It's beautiful."

Right when they pull into town, both of them gazed at the town square they drove though. Clary and Jocelyn grew up in the big city so they weren't really used to small towns. "As long as Magnus doesn't turn it into his glittery palace of doom." Clary smirks.

"Hey, Magnus is happy that we're here." She assures her of her old friend. "You know you miss him."

Magnus Bane was Jocelyn's dear friend and Clary's godfather. She remembers when he would tell her stories about ancient times and throw glitter at her every time. "Yeah, I do." The redhead admits. "Especially the Christmas presents he sends us. But I hate how he says that I looked like Rosemary's Baby when I was born."

Her mother took a left and giggles, "He's only joking with you."

"Mom, I'm gonna the freak from the concrete jungle who's mother is the vice principal." she complains. "Getting a ruby necklace from Magnus would maybe make my day."

"Yeah, I just hope they got McDonald's here." Jocelyn added.

At last, Jocelyn pulls into the neighborhood. They parked in the driveway of their new house. It was a regular-size house with small lawn. The house was painted white with a red roof.

Both of them get out of the car. They walked into their new house. "This is it." Jocelyn shrieks. "Come on, come on. Look. A yard. You'd never get this in New York."

Clary rolls her eyes. "You don't have to keep selling me on this place." She assures her mother. "I'm staying because I love you."

"Aw, I love you too." She gives her a hug. "Wow, look at that house." The girls turned to the two-story next to theirs. It was large and with a small lawn. The house was painted dark and looked depressing as the other houses in the neighborhood were bright and beautiful.

"Mom, it looked like nobody lives there." Clary points out. She then realized that she was wrong as she noticed a black Silverado and a dark red Camaro parked in front of the old house.

Jocelyn and Clary walked into the empty house. Both had them different reactions to it. "Look at this kitchen." Jocelyn shrieks. "It's bigger than our apartment."

"We don't cook." She reminds her mother.

'Well, look at all this counter space to put the takeout on." Jocelyn stands silently for a moment. "Do you hear that?"

Clary nodded. "No, I don't hear anything."

"Exactly." She smiles.

Moments later, a loud voice startles them. "Live from New York, it's my best friend, Jocelyn! With special guest, my god-daughter, Clary!" It was none other than Magnus Bane, Clary's godfather and Jocelyn's friend. "Get in here with a hug!"

"Hey!" Clary hugs him tightly. She actually did miss Magnus. He was like a cool uncle that got her presents and wasn't that responsible since he had no children.

After hugging his god-daughter, Magnus walks over to his old friend. "Oh, my goodness! Look at you! You're not in any color. We should change that."

Jocelyn embraces him in her arms and patted him on his back. "Oh, my God. It's good to see you, Magnus."

"Wow, you too." Magnus pulls back and looks at Clary. "Okay. Let me take her in. Oh, my gosh. She gets more beautiful every time I see her.

Clary smiles. "Thank you, Magnus." She fakes the smile because she knew what he was going to say.

"Thank God, because you were such an ugly baby." The man quickly added. Clary's smile dies as Jocelyn frowns. "What? It's fine. She's pretty now. I'll admit when you were born, you resembled Rocky Dennis, but you're a pretty Orphan Annie now."

"No, the danger's past." Clary stated. "Okay, I'm gonna start unloading, okay?"

"Okay, sweetie. Just be careful." Her mom tells her.

The redhead walks outside and opens the trailer full of their stuff. For the two of them, they had a lot of things. First, Clary took out two two suitcases and takes them to the living room. After that, she found a box that was full of her art supplies. In another box next to it had her dad's old Yankees cap.

For a moment, Clary looks at it and puts it on. "Hi there." A voice calls out.

Clary looks towards the dark house. A woman standing on the lawn of the house was looking at Clary. She was tall with a fit body. The girl had on a black tank top and purple pants. Her hair was raven black and she looked like an exotic super model.

"Oh, hi." Clary responded.

"You need any help there?" She asked the redhead.

She nods her head. No, I got it. It's just my art supplies."

"Wow, that is a lot of supplies there." The girl commented.

"Not really. It's just my markers, paints, color pencils, oil pastels, and black pens." She then quickly introduced herself. "I'm Clarissa, but I go by Clary."

"I'm Isabelle, but I go by Izzy. I live next door." She gestures to the dark house.

Clary purses her lips. "Oh, that's cool. Do you go to the high school?"

"No, I'm in college." Her answer then made Clary lose hope in making a friend. "It's just me and my brothers living here."

A bell chimed in Clary's head. "Your brothers? How many are there?"

"My older brother, Alec, and our younger brother, Jace." Izzy explains to her. "Yeah, Jace is about your age."

"That's cool."

"Well, I gotta go to work. It was great meeting you. Bye, Clary."

"Bye, Izzy."

Soon Clary stands there watching the brunette get into the red Camaro and drive off. The redhead then proceeds in carrying in art supplies.

"So you're the new neighbor?" A voice startles her.

Clary Fray looks up at the direction the voice was coming from. She found a boy peeking his head out the window of the creepy house next door to hers.

The boy was about her age. His skin was light and he had blonde hair. From where Clary was standing, she had a clear view of his face. He was the image of the Greek god Adonis. Immediately, she assumes that he must've been one of Izzy's brothers, though he looked nothing like her.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." Clary responds to him.

"How long was the drive from New York?" He asked her.

His questions spooked her a little. Clary lifted an eyebrow and asked, "Are you a mind-reader?"

The blonde chuckles, "No, I can just tell by the hat that you have."

"Oh, yeah, the Yankees." Clary nodded. "Well I came from Brooklyn. Just me and my mom. I'm Clary, by the way. Clary Fray." She felt her introduction was a bit too much.

"Jace Herondale." He tells her his name. It surprised Clary that he was Izzy's young brother.

"Oh, yeah, you're the little brother." Clary says. "I, uh, just met your sister."

All of a sudden, a voice calls out. "Jace!"

Jace turns back and looks back at Clary. "I gotta go." Then, he left the window.

"Good talk." Clary says aloud.

Out of the blue, a man appears at the window staring at Clary. He was tall with raven black hair. The man had a striking resemblance to Isabelle with their hair color, eyes, skin color, and facial features.

"Hi." Clary awkwardly says to him. "You must be Alec. I, um, just met your brother and sister." He kept staring at him, which made the redhead feel uncomfortable. "We're just moving in. Just... Just me and my mom. "

"Do you see the fence?" The first words to come out of his mouth surprised the young teenager.

Clary responds. "Uh, yes."

"Stay on your side of it." He tells her in a harsh tone. "You stay away from my brother, my sister, and me, and we won't have a problem."

The girl stood there confused for a second. "What? Okay?"

Once she said that, Alec slams the window shut, startling Clary. It confused her that Izzy and Jace seemed so nice, but Alec was so cold towards her. She couldn't exactly if it was her or him.

Clary walks into her house and sets her box down in the living room. She takes off the cap and tosses it into one of the boxes. After that, she enters he kitchen where Magnus was sitting down with a cup of coffee in his hand and Jocelyn was at the counter with the coffee pot. "Well, just met our neighbors." she informs them.

"Do they seem nice?" Jocelyn asked her daughter.

"Two of them, yes, but the older one is a big teddy bear." Clary comments.

"Oh, Alexander?" Magnus says his name. "Yeah, he moved to town a few years ago with his siblings. Very mysterious.

Jocelyn puts some cups up in the cabinet and questions her old friend, "Siblings? You mean by themselves? Do they have parents?"

"I don't think so. Alec is the eldest so he takes care of them. They're not really the center of attention in this town. Never given anybody trouble."

Listening to Magnus's information made Clary think. Alec seemed more than just mysterious. "Yeah, I can tell he is quite mysterious since he told me to stay on my side on the fence." She smirks.

"It's okay, Sweetie." Her godfather assures her. "He's not a terrible person. I think he's just incredibly shy."

 _Shy_ , she thought. _He's probably Hannibal Lector._ "What made you think that?" Jocelyn asks.

"Every other week, he comes into my store to buy toadstool mushrooms." Magnus Bane informs them. "He could never look me in the eyes, and keeps stuttering. I give him a compliment and he blushes like he had a schoolgirl crush on me. It's adorable. Very sexy. I love his scent."

Clary makes a face. "Eww."

At that moment, her mom starts laughing. "Wow, Clary, I haven't heard you say that about boys since you were like seven."

"Only if they're big, scary hermits who scare away innocent neighbor girls like me." Clary implies.

As Clary rummages through a box, she found an old photo. It was a picture of her and her dad, Valentine at the beach. Clary was ten at that time and her dad looked completely healthy. They were making a sand castle while Jocelyn took the picture of them

"I remember that day." Jocelyn says as she gazes at the photo of her late husband. Although Jocelyn seemed calm, Clary couldn't already feel her stomach twisting in a knot. "You okay, sweetheart?"

Clary snaps back to reality. 'Yeah, sorry. Um...I'm gonna go get a head start decorating my room. Knock it off my bucket list."

Her daughter goes to her new room, but Jocelyn knew that her daughter was still hurting. After Valentine's death, Clary hasn't been herself lately. She ignored her friends, stopped doing her drawings, and even stated home from school for a week. Jocelyn tried to cope with her, but she keeps shutting her out.

"How's she doing?" Magnus asks about her.

"Oh, it's been hard." She answers him. "She's putting up a wall. Hopefully, a change of scenery will help."

Magnus was then concerned for Jocelyn as well. "How are you doing?"

The woman looked down for a few seconds. "Hopefully, a change of scenery will help."

"Jocelyn, I just want you to know that I'm here for the both of you." Magnus tells his friend.

Slowly, her heart begins to warm. "Thanks, Magnus. I appreciate that a lot."

"Plus, Clary will need a father figure in her life." Magnus quickly added. "Who says I shouldn't be it?"

For one thing, Jocelyn wanted to laugh. "Let's see. One of the few many things that make you different from Val. If Clary comes down in a short tight dress, Val would not let her leave the house. And what would you do? Throw glitter on her and then let her leave."

 _She knows me so well,_ Magnus thought. "I want her to look amazing. Hey, Val would've wanted the both of you to go on living. For now, I won't try setting you up with the eligible bachelors of Madison."

"Good because no one can replace Val." She assures him.

Magnus stands up and helps her put things up. "I'm not saying to replace him. Just . . . someone to take care of you and Clary. I'm always here for you, Jocelyn."

"Thanks." Jocelyn didn't want to hear it anymore. It breaks her heart hearing her husband's name every time. She then changed the subject. "So you trying to get with my neighbor?"

Her friend grins. "Certainly yes. I have a thing for tall, mysterious men who take care of their families and makes me laugh. I'm so gonna climb that giraffe."

"Well, good luck with that." Jocelyn giggles

Soon after Magnus left, Clary sat in her new room, settling in. She picked up a box that was full of her dad's stuff. Most of them were pictures of him on family vacations, holidays, or simple memories. The one thing that broke her heart the most was an old drawing she did at the age of six. It was a crayon of her, Valentine, and Jocelyn.

A tear falls down Clary's cheek. Then, a sound startles her. "Honey? You okay?" Her mother called her from the outside of her room.

"Um, yeah." Clary convincingly lies to her mother. "Just found some old baby pictures. I really did look like Chucky."

"Alright, sweetie."

Luckily, her moment didn't walk in. Clary grabs a Sharpie and marks the box as _Dad's Stuff_. "I love you, Dad." She whispers at the box and places it under her bed.

Suddenly, a slight breeze came from her window. Clary Fray stood up to close her window, but gazes at Jace's house for a moment.

Something about the house was bothering her. She couldn't tell if it was a good or bad feeling. Clary felt that they were hiding something from everyone.

Unknown to Clary, who was still at the window, a women quietly snuck up behind her. The woman was tall and curvy. Her dark brown hair was long and straight, split down the middle. She had on a black casual dress that stopped at her knees completed with black boots and black leggings. She had a Gothic look since she had on a lot of rings and thick eyeliner.

The woman holds up her fingers inches away from Clary's temple. All of a sudden, a glow runs from her brilliant red eyes through her veins. Once they reach her fingers, they escape her skin as a red smoke that heads to Clary and absorbs into the red head's eyes.

At that moment, Clary had no control of herself. She felt like she was dreaming almost, except it was like she was really awake. Clary keeps her eyes on the house and asks, "Who are you?"

"I am no one," the woman whispers. "That house is not safe."

"How come?" Clary asked.

"The people who live there are not who they seemed to be. They hold a secret inside of that house. A secret that will change your life."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Clary stayed frozen under the trance and the woman leans into her ear. "To save you from them." She whispers.


	2. New Beginnings

On the next day, it was officially Clary's first day of school. She wasn't so thrilled about going to a new school and meeting new people. On the other hand, Jocelyn was actually excited.

As they pull up to the parking lot, Jocelyn jokes with her daughter, "Yay. New friends, new friends, new friends."

Before her mom could get out, Clary quickly locks the doors. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to work. Gonna do some educating. Some administrating."

Sometimes Clary gets embarrassed when her mother tries to act cool. "Mom, I'm the new kid, which presents its own set of obstacles. Not sure walking in with the vice principal is the play. Just give me a 60-second head start so I at least have a chance.

Jocelyn purses her lips and nods her head. "Deal. You promise you'll give it a shot?"

She thinks it over. Clary already knew that today was only going to miserable if she made it miserable. She didn't want to let her mom down. "You know I can't promise you that. I promise. All right? And this door-locking thing... Come on, you're better than that."

"Sixty seconds start now, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54..."

And so Clary Fray gets out of the car and quickly walks into school. It was actually simple to find her classes since her mom and her came to school during the weekend to register her.

Clary Fray stops at a glass case across from the office to find special items from their alumni. She saw a painting, baseball mitt, and other unimportant things. The one thing that caught her attention was a classic typewriter.

She read the small sign in front of the type writer.

A.G. Lightwood's Typewriter

"No way," she says to herself. "A.G. Lightwood?"

The redhead knew who he was. He was none other than the famous author of the Goosebumps series. Although Clary didn't know much about him, she used to read the books as a child. She was fascinated by the monsters A.G. Lightwood wrote about. She even drew pictures of the monsters.

Then, she heads to the gymnasium where an assembly was being held.

Walking in front of the first row made Clary feel like she came to school naked. All their eyes were glued on her, and Clary tried her best not to pay attention. Then, she walked up to the second row and sat down.

"All right, let's find our seats, ladies and gentlemen." The principal says through the microphone. "Find our seats quickly. Let's find our seats. Mm-hm. Okay. Let's settle down."

"Um... Okay. Uh, sorry. Excuse me." One boy came through the top row and pushes people out of the way. He finally sat down next to Clary, startling her. The boy was tall and skinny. He had regular brown hair and glasses. "Let me just... Okay, cool. Okay. So you're the new kid?"

Clary nods her head. "Oh, yeah. My name is Clarissa, but I go by Clary."

"I'm Simon Lewis, but I go by Simon." Clary stares at him with a weird look on their face as Simon waits for her to laugh. "That was supposed to be a joke and it is not really funny. I get it. Cool, cool. Oh. Hi, Taylor."

A blond girl at the bottom turns back to Simon and waves to him. "Hi, Sheldon."

Once the girl sat down, Simon murmurs, "Uh . . . not my name, but it was close."

"But calling you Sheldon was a little victory for you, right." Clary chuckles.

"Oh, definitely. But she's never talked to me before, so we're making progress." The boy tries to act cool, which made Clary laugh a little.

The principal says into the microphone, "Three. two, one. Settle down. Good morning. I am so happy to introduce you to our new vice principal, Miss Fray. And I hope that you show her the same respect that you show me." Out of the blue, a fart went out loudly making everybody laugh. "Who did that? Who did that? Miss Fray."

Jocelyn stands up and heads over to the microphone. She was a bit disappointed that only one person clapped for her and that was Coach Luke Garroway. "Hi, everyone." Jocelyn clears her throat and speaks. "I know I speak for the entire administration when I say that we are so excited for Friday's fall dance. You guys pumped about it?" She waited for somebody to cheer, but all she got was awkward silence. "Okay, I love the enthusiasm." She quickly added.

Clary mumbles, "Oh, my god."

"She's worse than the last one." Simon comments about her mother.

The redhead turns to him and confesses, "That's my mom."

"Oh, I didn't actually mean it." He tries to not hurt her feelings. "I was saying it sarcastically. So you going with anyone to the dance?"

"No, not really." Clary Fray answers. "I didn't even know we were having a dance. So . . . I don't know. Have you asked anybody?"

Her question made Simon nodded and answered, "Yeah, I asked mostly every girl in school. They said no. Yeah. I was thinking about flying solo too. Hey, we should go together."

Clary raises an eyebrow. "Together?"

"Oh, not like "together" together. Dance together or anything."

He seemed like a nice guy, but Clary didn't feel like going to a school dance. She felt a bit out of place in the school. I don't know, Simon. I mean, I'm new here and all."

"And as a final reminder, just be safe and have fun." Jocelyn finally finished her speech and everybody begins to leave.

"Take this." Simon hands her a card. "If you change your mind, shoot me a text or tweet me. It has all my contact info. There's my home address, and that's my locker number. You know where to find me."

"Thanks." Clary tells him.

"Anyone caught dancing with their butt facing their partner, you will be sent home immediately!" The principal yells in the microphone. "Immediately!"

After school, Clary walked out zipping up her bag. She didn't have a terrible time at school, but she felt like a cute little puppy with all the attention on her as she was introduced to every classroom. Then, she spotted Simon walking out of school as well. "Hey, Simon," she calls out to him.

The boy turns back to find the redhead heading towards him. "Hey, Clary, enjoy the first day of school?"

"It was alright, I guess." The duo began walking towards the town square. "One question: is Mrs. Thorndyke a man? She has a really deep voice and had hair on her chin."

"Nobody could really tell." Both of them started laughing. "So why move to Delaware? Isn't New York like the city that never sleeps?"

"My mom and I moved here after my dad died." She explains to him. Clary felt embarrassed about telling people about her dad's death. She didn't want people to feel sorry for her.

Simon's face grew serious. "Oh, I'm sorry, Clary. I didn't know."

"It's okay." She assures him.

"How did he die?" Simon Lewis asked

Clary clears her throat. "Open-heart surgery."

"I'm sorry, Clary. I don't have a dad either. Well actually I do. My dad lives an hour away from here. It's just me, my mom, and sister." Finally, Simon Lewis stops after he realizes that he was making it worse. The two stopped in front of Magnus's store. "Oh, Bane's shop full of mystical things and so-called potions. That guy's just crazy and a real nut bar."

His new friend grins. "He's my godfather."

"Oh, God." He gasps. "Is there anybody you don't know that I can talk bad about?"

Clary begins to laugh. "Come on!" She drags him into the store. Magnus's shop was dark with a little bit of lighting. It was decorated as a gothic-themed. His store was unique filled with lotions, plants, jewelry, vintage stuff, and even clothing. "Hey, Magnus."

"Hello, Clary and . . . Who's this?" He points to Simon.

"This is my new friend, Simon from school." She introduces them.

After the introduction, Simon awkwardly waves at the man. "Hi there. I like your store. It smells like vanilla and body spray."

Magnus raises an eyebrow. "I spray body spray all over the place." All of a sudden, a tall person walks in the store. Clary looks at the customer who turns out to be none other than Alec. Magnus, who had a drink in his hand, drops his glass once Alec walked in. "Oh, Alexander, nice to see you again." He stammers.

"Hey, Magnus." Alec says to the store owner. "I need a package of toadstool mushrooms."

"Of course I'll be right back." Magnus leaves to go to the backroom.

For a moment, Clary studies the man as Simon looks around. Alec was leaning over the counter looking at a bottle of cologne. He sprays it on his wrist and sniffs it. Liking it, the guy begins rubbing his scented wrist on his neck. "Hey, Neighbor." Clary says, startling him.

Alec quickly puts the cologne away and turns back. "Are you stalking me, Fray?" He asked her.

"No, I'm just here to see my godfather, Magnus." She innocently implies.

"Godfather?" He repeated.

Before they could say anything else to each other, Magnus appears carrying a large bag and places it on the counter. "Here you are, Alexander. That'll be eleven dollars." Alec takes out his wallet and hands Magnus some money. "You should be careful with these. They have a slight toxin that keeps creatures like me away."

Alec tries his best not to blush as he gets his change back. "Don't worry, Magnus. You're not the majestic creature I'm trying to keep away from me." They gaze into each other's eyes for a second and then snapped back to reality. "Anyways, thanks, Magnus. Bye."

Clary watches as he leaves the store and gets into the black Silverado. Other than that, Magnus smiles like a child with their first crush. "He called me majestic." He shrieks.

"And a creature." Simon added.

After Simon headed home, Clary walked straight to her house and headed to her backyard. She sat on the small table they had outside next to her mother's flower bed.

Clary had her sketchbook and started drawing something. For some reason, she felt something take control over her. She was drawing rather fast and her eyes haven't blinked for the longest time. Unknown to her, her eyes were crimson red.

Finally, the red color in her eyes disappear and she stops drawing. Clary carefully looks at the sketch she created and was confused. It was a drawing of a large bookshelf full of books in a room. She never seen the room before.

"Hey!" A voice startles her.

The redhead quickly stands up to find Jace coming though a broken piece of the fence between their houses. " Oh, my god." She gasped.

"Did I scare you?" Jace asks as he walks into her backyard.

Clary tries to act cool. "Pfft, no."

"Really?" The blonde smirks. "Because you seemed a bit jumpy."

She tries to act cool in front of him. "You know, I jump a lot. It's how I stay in such great shape."

"Yeah, I just do pilates." He snorts, which makes Clary bursts out laughing.

After they stopped, Clary mentions, "Yeah, I didn't see you at school today."

"Aw, what, you were looking for me?" He jokes with her.

"No, no." She stammers. "I just... I just observed..."

"No, I'm homeschooled." He tells her the truth.

Homeschooled, she thought. It surprised her That he was homeschooled. "Oh, by your brother?" Jace nodded. "He seems... nice. And intense. And a little tense. Most of all, scary. He seriously scares the pee out of me"

"Don't take it personally." He assures her. "He doesn't really like anyone. Yeah. So, um..."

"So is there anything, like, fun to do around here aside from scaring your neighbors?" She asks him.

Jace thinks it over for a second. "There is one thing that I like to do. Come with me."

The blonde heads out the backyard with Clary following him. "Uh... Hey, where are we going?"

"Don't worry. It'll be fun." He tells her.

Clary stopped asking questions as Jace leads her into the town square. It confused her that he kept walking towards outside of the town. Then, it caught her attention that he was heading to the woods.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Clary asks him.

"Yes. Come on. This way." They were officially in the woods.

"Are you taking me somewhere to kill me? " She continues to questions him, which makes him laugh. "I'm just curious."

Jace turns back to her. "I'm playing it by ear."

Finally, dawn was approaching. Clary and Jace stopped in the middle of the forest. Clary was surprised to find a ferries wheel and a couple of stands. It looked like a rundown carnival.

"Uh... It's not what I was expecting." Clary replies. She watch as Jace jogs towards a electrical box with switches and turns on a couple of things. The whole carnival lit up making Clary smile. "So, what is this place?"

Jace walks over to her and says, "Well, they built it years ago, but then they ran out of money. Izzy and I found this place a year ago. Since she's busy, I come out here by myself. Now it just sits here. Come on, this is my favorite part."

He runs to the ferris wheel and begins to climb up it. "Wait, wait, wait." Clary looks up at him. "What are you doing?"

"What are you afraid of? I do this all the time."

As Jace continues to climb, Clary then climbs with him. "I'm... I'm not afraid. I'm just not current with my tetanus shots." She rambles on.

Clary tries not to look down, but she didn't exactly feel safe. At last, Jace stops at the tallest ride. He casually sits down as Clary continues to climb. "Come on." He encouraged her. "You can do it. Just don't look down. There you go."

Once she got on the ride, she carefully got on the ride with Jace. "All right." She shakily says. "So I'm high off of the ground."

"It's cool, right?" He smiles at her.

"Yeah, it's cool." She says, ignoring her nervousness. "You can see everything from up here."

"So why'd you move to Madison?" He asked her.

For a moment, clary was quiet. she didn't want to tell another person about her dad's death. On the other hand, she felt like she can tell Jace anything. "My mom and I just couldn't stay in Brooklyn anymore. It's just, um... It's just been me and my mom since my dad died a few months ago. Everything there just reminded us of him."

"I'm sorry." He tells her.

"I don't really think about it much anymore. What about you?" Clary Fray was quite curious about Jace's life other than his cool sister and scary brother.

The blonde bites down on his lip. "Here's the thing. I really don't remember much of my life. Not until I met Alec. Their parents died in a car accident a few years ago. Alec and Izzy sorta adopted me into their family. I wasn't really adopted, but they call me their brother."

"Well that was sweet of them."

"We're always moving from place to place." He added.

Clary frowns. "That really sucks."

"It's fine."

Another thing was bothering Clary, but she felt that it was none of her business. "Why is he so overprotective of you two?" She blurts out.

"Well, ever since their parents died, Alec was always our Mama Bear as I would put it. He never lets me out of his sight since I'm the youngest. He treats me like a little kid sometimes, but he lets Izzy be more independent."

"Yeah, my dad would never even let me leave my old apartment unless my cleavage was covered and my pants were to my knees."

Both of them started laughing. "New York does sound fun. I always wanted to go there. I want to go everywhere, but Alec wouldn't even let me step outside."

"Hey, he loves you . . . in his own unique way, but you love him, don't you?"

Jace nodded. "I do love him and Izzy. Who knows where I'll be if it weren't for them."

He was the one good thing about this town that Clary seemed to enjoy. Never before has she met anybody as adventurous and optimistic as Jace. "Hey, can I ask you something really serious, Jace?" Her voice grew serious.

"Yeah, what?"

"How do we get down?" At that moment, Jace begins to laugh. "I'm serious. Is there a plan? How do you normally get down?

"You can't." He lies to her while he laughs. "You're stuck."

Jace and Clary were heading back to their houses after spending an hour at the carnival. "Wow, I can't believe you ate that cotton candy." Jace laughs at her.

"And you know what's scary is it actually tasted kind of fine." She jokes with him. "So, uh, thanks for tonight. That was the least terrible time I've had here."

He places his hands on his chest and fakes a smile. "Oh, Clary. That's so sweet. That's... I... Really."

"Hey, Jace. I'm... I'm probably gonna take out the trash on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, you know, you feel like creeping up on someone, that works for me."

The boy nods his head. "All right. I'll keep that in mind, scaredy-cat."

For a quiet moment, they stood there in front of each other not knowing what to say next. Both suddenly gaze into each other's eyes. Never before has Clary seen such unique eyes on a person. She never thought there would be an absolutely perfect moment such as this in her life.

"Jace!" A voice interrupts them. They looked back to find Alec on the porch of his house. Also, Izzy was sticking her head out the door. "What are you doing out here?"

"Alec, I was . . . " Jace tries to figure out an excuse. " . . . we were just . . . I was . . ."

Before he could think of anything, Alec calmly commanded, "Get in the house now."

Jace couldn't protest against his older brother. He looks at Clary and says, "Clary, I'm sorry. I have to go."

The young teenager reluctantly walks up to his house and stops at Alec. His brother folds his arms in disappointment as he walks into the house.

Izzy turns to Alec and tries to coax with him, "Alec, he was just talking to her. It's not like-"

He cuts her off. "Izzy, that's enough." His sister heads back to the house and Clary begins walking to her house until Alec calls out to her. "Hey, Fray. I better not have to tell you again. You stay away from my family. This is your last warning."

Something about Alec made Clary wonder what goes on in that house. What is it that Alec has against her? How come he won't let her near Jace? Whatever it is, Clary was afraid of him and what he's hiding. "Okay, I believe you." She responds.


	3. The People Next Door

Something about her neighbors wasn't quite right. It was made Clary curious about them, especially Alec. She wondered what exactly was wrong with him and why he wouldn't let Jace see her. Clary couldn't tell if it was her or him.

She hadn't heard from Jace in two days after the incident with him and his brother. Things took a turn on Wednesday night.

After she got done with her homework early, Clary and Jocelyn went out to eat. Her mom pulls up to their driveway and parks. "That place was good, right?" She asks her daughter.

"Yeah, the Chinese food here isn't like the one in Brooklyn, but it was pretty good." Clary admits to her mom as she unbuckles her seatbelt.

They both got out of the car and walked to the porch until they heard the loud argument coming from their neighbors next door.

"Alec, it's not a big deal!" Clary recognized that voice as Jace. As she and her mother listened, they spotted their shadows through their windows.

"Not a big deal?" Alec barked at his brother. "Jace, you know you're not supposed to leave the house, especially at night. I was worried sick about you! Something could've happened to you!"

Izzy interrupts their conversation. "Alec, calm down. He's alright."

"Don't baby him, Izzy!" He yells at his siblings. "Jace, you are never allowed to see that girl ever again!"

Clary knew that they were talking about her. She turns to her mother and says. "Mom?"

"That's not fair! You can't just lock me up forever! Why can't I just have friends?!"

"You know why!" Alec snaps at him.

"Clary, get in the house." Jocelyn commands her daughter, pushing her towards their front door.

Suddenly, they heard Izzy cry out, "Guys, stop it!" A loud noise startles them and Izzy screams.

Jocelyn pulls Clary into their house and slams the door shut behind her. "Mom, what do we do?" She asked.

Instead of answering her, Jocelyn Fray pulls out her phone and dials 911. "Hello? My neighbors are having some kind of argument in their house. We were coming home from a restaurant and we heard them arguing. I heard screaming and something broke. Like glass. Could you come over to check on them? There's three of them . . . "

As her mother calls the police, Clary looks at her window and saw the silhouette of Alec picking something up. She was afraid of him, and for Jace and Izzy. What she heard sounded like Alec had hit one of them.

Five minutes later, the police arrived at Alec's house. Both Jocelyn and Clary were sitting on their porch as two police officers speak to the eldest of the household.

"Mom, I'm worried about Jace," she tells her.

"Don't worry." She assures her. "It may have been a little fight they were having. Some siblings are like that."

Clary looks at her and mentions, "Mom, his brother hates me. We were hanging out on Monday and Alec gave me the stink eye."

Soon the police took off in their cars and Alec walks to their lawn. "So you're the ones who called the police on me?" He smirks. "I'm Alec, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Jocelyn Fray and you know my daughter, Clary." She tells him. "I am sorry about this. I didn't mean to get in your business or anything."

Alec nods his head. "It's fine. I'm not pressing charges or anything. This was just a mistake. It's alright."

Something didn't add up at all. "Where's Jace?" Clary blurts out. "And Izzy? Why did she scream?"

"Clary!" Jocelyn stops her daughter. "That is their business. Not ours."

"I knocked over a lamp by accident and it scared my sister." Alec explains to her. "And both of them are in their rooms. Anything else, Nancy Drew? Maybe my Wi-Fi password or the reason why I never recycle?"

His sarcasm was pushing Clary off the edge. She could see it in his eyes that he was lying. "You're hiding something." She hesitantly says to the tall man. "I know you are. You can't keep Jace away from me. No wonder he wants to leave so bad."

"Clary, that is enough." Jocelyn raise her voice at her daughter. "Go to your room! Now!"

Before going inside of her house, Clary glances at Alec one last time and stomps into the house.

Jocelyn turns to Alec, "Alec, I am so sorry about Clary. I don't know what has gotten into her. I think she's just going through some teenagers phase."

"It's fine, Miss Fray-"

"Jocelyn, sweetie. You can call me Jocelyn."

"It's fine, Jocelyn. Jace has just been on edge lately since our parents' death. I think it would be better if they don't see each other for awhile. It's nothing personal. It's just that . . . he worries me when he's not with me or Isabelle."

The woman nods her head. "I understand. Again, I'm sorry about this. Good night, Alec."

"Good night, Jocelyn."

For the next two days, Clary still hasn't heard from Jace or Izzy. It worried her that she hadn't seen either of them. Clary tries to distract herself by hanging out with Simon and stayed at Magnus's shop, but she was still wondering what happened to Jace and Izzy.

Now that it was Friday night and it was the night of the Fall Dance at the high school. Since Jocelyn was chaperoning the dance, she got dressed up in a casual blue dress. Unfortunately, Clary didn't want to go to the dance, claiming she didn't feel like it.

Not wanting to leave her daughter by herself, she called Magnus to come over and keep Clary company. Around 6:30, Magnus walked into the house and said, "I'm here."

"Thanks for coming over," Jocelyn tells her friend. "I didn't want to leave Clary by herself since Wednesday."

"Don't worry, Jocelyn." Magnus makes himself at home. "She's a teenager and they all go through that weird, awkward stage. I did once and look at me now."

Jocelyn rolls her eyes and laughs. "I don't know what it is. She's been really suspicious about Alec and his family."

"Alexander?" Magnus's eyes widen at the sound of Alec's name. "What do you mean suspicious?"

"She was friends with the brother, Jace, but Alec didn't want them to be friends." Jocelyn explains to him. "It's just something personal about Jace that makes Alec worry about him. So just keep an eye on Clary tonight."

Her friend places his hand on her shoulder. "Relax. Everything will be fine. Just go chaperone and I'll take care of my favorite and only goddaughter."

"Alright, bye." Jocelyn Fray leaves the house.

A few minutes after she left, Clary came out of her room and sits down on her couch next to Magnus. "I'm fifteen years old so I think I'm too old to have a babysitter," she points out.

"I'm not babysitting you." Magnus tells her as he flips through channels. "I'm just here to keep you company and record most of my shows."

Clary rolls her eyes. "As long as you don't buy anything, we're good. Magnus, can I ask you something?"

"If it's about your teenage issues or anything like that, I have only one piece of advice: it'll get better."

Her godfather made it impossible for her to tell him anything, but Clary manages to ask, "What is with Alec next door? Like what is the matter with them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he answers. "Sweetie, is this about the whole police thing on Wednesday?"

The redhead folds her arms. "I know he was lying. I could see it in his eyes. Magnus, believe me. He's hiding something."

"And whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing big. It's like he always orders those toadstool mushrooms every two weeks and calls me to pre-order them. They're really hard to find, but that's not so weird."

It kept bothering her about her neighbors. Something was happening there and she needed to find out. "Okay, I'm gonna go to my room," she lies to Magnus. "I have a huge test on Monday so I need to study. Don't come in or bother me."

"Okay, I'll be here."

Clary heads to her room and shuts the door behind her. She takes out her phone and presses a name in the contacts.

"Hello?" A voice answers her.

"Simon, it's me. Clary. You have to help me."

It confused Simon by the tone of his friend's voice. "Help you? Okay, as long as it doesn't involve hiding a body or water your plants."

For one thing, she knew Simon wouldn't exactly want to go break into someone's house. "No, actually I was thinking of going to the dance." She convincingly lies to him.

"Really? That's great." Simon shrieks. "I officially have a date. My sister owes me ten dollars."

Clary chuckles. "Well, Simon, here's the thing. You should come over to my house because I got a date with my neighbor. But it's good for you too because you actually have a date."

A moment of silence passes. "Okay, so you're not gonna be my date?" He asks her.

"No, my date is this boy, Jace, and he has a sister." Clary regrets to tell him about Izzy.

At first, Simon was a bit disappointed, but he decided to give her a chance. "Tell me about her."

"Her name is Izzy. She's a brunette, she's very smart, and in college. But she's really pretty and funny. She's definitely in your league."

"Okay, I'm in." Simon finally agrees. "What time should I come over?"

"Like right now."

"I will be there soon. Bye."

"Bye."

It then pop into Clary's head that Alec may still be in the house. She opens her curtain and peeks at the driveway of her neighbors' house. The two cars that belonged to Izzy and Alec were still there.

"Shit!" She whispers to herself.

An idea came to her and she immediately walks to the living room.

Magnus was on the couch with his red headphones on connected to an old iPod that he kept since 2009. On the table next to couch was Magnus' phone.

In an instant, Clary snatches the phone and walks back to her room. Since Magnus didn't have a password, Clary was able to get on his phone easily.

She finds the number assuming that her neighbor was the name listed as Alexander. The redhead quickly dials the number into her phone and waits for him to answer.

"Hello?" His voice makes her heart jump. "Who's this?"

She clears he throats and responds, "Excuse me. Am I speaking to Alexander?"

"Yes, you are."

"I'm Officer Taylor and I'm calling you to clarify your charges against Jocelyn Fray." She lies, hoping he would buy it.

"What? I didn't press charges. What are you talking about?"

Clary was scared for a second, but continues to ramble on. "I have your paperwork here, saying that you wanted to press charges. Your signature is even on it."

"There has to be mistake or something. Okay, you know what. Let me come over and sort this crap out."

"Okay, sir." Alec hangs up the phone and Clary hangs up as well.

She walks back into the living room and finds Magnus still with his headphones on. Clary sneakily places his phone back on the table and quietly opens her front door.

It was dark outside already. Clary Fray carefully runs to a nearby bush and hides.

One thing she noticed was the circular row of mushrooms in front of her neighbor's house. She then ignores it and focuses on the plan.

Who knows what Alec was hiding in his house. The theories ran through Clary's head in the blink of an eye. She thought of all the possible secrets of her neighbors. Maybe their drug dealers, she thought. Criminals? Time travelers?

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps startles her. Clary looks back and finds Simon walking up to the lawn. She whistles to him, "Simon!"

The young man turns to her hiding in the bush. "Hey, clar-"

"Get down!" She drags him down behind the bush with her.

Simon hisses, "Clary, stop it! Oh, crap! It's all muddy!"

"Sorry about that." The redhead quickly apologizes.

"What are you doing? And where's our dates?"

His questions made her bit her lip and confessed to him, "Yeah, about that . . . I lied to get you over here."

The teenage boy shook his head. "You serious? Clary, you could've just ask me to go to the dance with you. I don't know why-"

"That's not it!" She snaps at him. "Look, I need your help here. Jace and Izzy are locked in that house, and their brother is a complete psychopath. "

Simon stares at his friend for a moment. Finally, he responds, "Okay, so they're real?"

"Yes, did you hear the rest of it?" She quietly hisses at him.

"Okay, yeah, but why do you need me here again?" He asks as Clary keeps her eye on her neighbor's house.

"I didn't want to be alone and I need to know if they're okay. That's it."

None of Clary's explanations made any sense to Simon. "Clary, you can't just break into someone's house while they're in there." He points out to her.

"Don't worry. I called Alec a few minutes ago and told him that I was the police and we need him to come down to the station."

"You can get in trouble for that. Has he left yet?"

At that moment, the front door opens and Alec exit this house. "There he is!" She whispers to Simon as they both crouch down behind the bushes.

The man closes the door behind him and locks it. Alec heads to the black Silverado and starts it. He backs up out of the driveway and drives off.

When the coast was clear, Clary and Simon stand up. "Alright, come on," Clary commands.

Simon then stops her. "Clary, think this over. We could get in trouble. I don't know why you are so obsessed with them, but it's unhealthy and very weird."

She rolls her eyes. "I am not obsessed. I just need to know if they're okay."

The redhead heads to the fence that separates her house from Jace's house. Clary carefully steps onto her trashcan and carefully lifts herself over the fence. She hops on her feet like a cat into the other backyard.

On the other hand, Simon does the exact same thing she does, expect he falls onto the grass. "Ouch!" He cries out.

"You okay?" Clary asks him.

"Yeah, I think so." He gets back on his feet and tries to act cool. "My face broke my fall."

Something caught Clary's attention. It was another row of mushrooms surrounding the house just like it was in the front yards. "What the hell?" She murmurs. "The mushrooms?"

"What about them?" Simon asks her.

"Those toadstool mushrooms he buys from Magnus-it looks like it circles the entire house."

Instead of checking out he mushrooms, Clary sprints over to the back door and tries to twist, but it was locked.

"Okay, it's locked." Simon tells her, hoping they would leave. "What do we do now?"

"I got it." Clary takes out her phone and turns on the flashlight. She hands it to Simon and removes a bobby pin from her hair. Surprising Simon, she kneels down and begins to pick the lock. At last, the door successfully opens.

"Wow. Did you learn that in New York?" He asks her.

Clary stands up and answers, "No, wikihow. Okay, stay out here".

"What? Why?" He shrieks.

"Simon, you're the lookout." She explains to him. "If Alec comes back, you just give me a signal like Ha-Hoo! Ha-Hoo!"

Not wanting to be by himself, Simon takes control and says, "Too bad I'm coming with you."

"Alright, just be quite." Clary Fray take her phone back and opens the door.

The teenage girl shines the flashlight on anything in front of her as Simon Lewis crept up behind her. First, both realized that they were in the kitchen.

"This is a nice house." Simon comments.

Out of the blue, a loud thud startles both of them. "What the hell was that?" Clary asked. "It's coming from upstairs."

Clay then proceeds to working up the stairs in her neighbor's house. Another thud scares them. They followed to where the sound was coming from.

Both of them walked into a room and switch on the lights. It was a large office with a Victorian style yet modern theme. The center of attention of the whole room was the large desk and the bookshelves behind it.

Another thud occurs and Clary shines the light at the bookshelves.

Clary and Simon stared at the bookshelves in curiosity. "It sounded like it came from that book shelf." Simon points out to her. They walk up to the shelves for a closer look and shine the light on them. All of the books were brown leathered and had titles on the side. "Oh, my god. Monster Blood? The Haunted Mask. Say Cheese and Die."

It suddenly hit them both of why these books were so familiar to them. "The Goosebumps books?" Clary says.

As weird as it seems to them, Simon grabs one and studies it. "Clary, these aren't just books. They're manuscripts." He tells her. "A.G. Lightwood? Wonder what happened to that guy."

None of this seems to be adding up to either of them. Clary expected drugs, stolen money, or even a cure for cancer. Anything but this. "This doesn't make any sense. I knew he was hiding something, but not this. What is he doing with a bunch of kids books?"

Offended by her comments, Simon stammers, "T-These aren't kid books. Kids books put you to sleep. These books scare the pee out of you. Deep Trouble is the reason I don't go to the beach."

As Simon keeps locking at the books, both him and Clary noticed something strange about all of them books. Each of them had a lock, unable to be opened. "Wait a minute. There's something weird about them."

"Yeah, there is." He agrees with her. "Why are they locked? Is there a key somewhere?"

"I don't know. Let me see." Clary begins rummaging through the draws of the desk for a key.

Meanwhile, Simon checks out another book. "The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena? Holy crap. This was my favorite one of all time."

At last, Clary finds one key in the last draw she looks through. "Here it is." She places the key in the hole and twists it. "Yep, it fits like a glove."

"I still wonder why they're-"

In an instant, Clary sees a dark figure behind Simon, with a weapon of some sorts in their hands. "Look out!" She yells as she drags herself and Simon to the ground. The strangers swings at them, but misses. Clary drops the book out of her hands and hits the floor.

Once she looks up, Clary Fray realizes that the figure was Jace with a baseball bat in his hand. "Clary?" He says.

Her eyes widen as she gazes at him. Also, Simon was on top of her and she awkwardly pushes him off her. "Hey, Jace, this is not what it looks like here." She assures him.

As they stand up, Izzy runs into the room panting, "Jace, did you get them? Clary? What are you doing in here? And who's this?"

Clary didn't know what to say to them. "This is a lot to explain here, Izzy, but I can assure you that I didn't steal anything."

"Wait, she's Izzy?" Simon interrupts.

The brunette stands there win confusion. "Yes, why?"

Simon leans towards his redhead friend and whispers to her, "Clary, you lied again. She's completely out of my league!"

"Not now, Simon."

"Why are you here?" Isabelle demanded from the two teenagers.

Clary tells her friends, "I was seeing if you guys were alright. I thought Alec locked you both up or something."

Her explanation confused both Izzy and Jace. "Why would you think that?" Jace asked.

"I heard screaming from the other night." She informs them. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Do you two just break into people's houses for fun?" Jace sarcastically remarks.

Frightened of Jace, Simon nervously rambles, "No, we don't. This is Clary's idea. Please don't hit me."

It came to Izzy's attention what they actually did. She saw one of the books on the floor. "Did you unlock a book?" She asked them.

Clary turns to the book on the floor and runs her fingers through her thick, orange hair. "Yeah, sorry. I'll put it back." She leans down to pick it up.

"No, don't touch it!" Jace warns her, but it was too late.

The book pops open behind itself. A glow of blue flies out of the book along with a strong wind knocking the four onto the ground. The glowing spirals into a large tornado, and the letters on the paper begins to leap off the pages and into the tornado. All of them letters came together to form a large, dark figure inside of the tornado.

Finally, the figure was complete and the tornado disappears.

Clary, Simon, Izzy, and Jace were still on the ground frozen in fear. They were quiet as the figure turns back to them.

It was him.

The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena.


End file.
